Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Mark of the Phoenix
by Mark of the Phoenix
Summary: Percy, broken-hearted after a breakup with Annabeth, is sent off to rescue a daughter of Aphrodite who has been given some unusual "gifts." Will he accept that his destiny lies in an unlikely place, or will his closed heart keep him from saving the only thing that matters?


Chapter 1: Percy's Story

Head pounding, I struggled to open my eyes against the bright light streaming across my face. A persistent rapping echoed against my bedroom door, and I struggled to push myself into a sitting position. Jeez, whoever was doing the knocking was apparently not going away, so I swung my legs to the floor and stomped over to fling open the door, pushing my unruly black hair out of my eyes to better see the annoying visitor. Grover. Of course.

His voice was gratingly chipper as he strode across my room and flung himself onto my bed. "Perce. Get dressed, man! Chiron's given us a mission!"

"No way! No more missions, no more quests! Come on, I told Chiron I needed a break after the last one..." I dropped down beside him on the bed and let my head fall into my hands. A mission? Really? That was the last thing I needed right now. The last "mission," which involved rescuing a nymph from a crazed Sphinx who thought the nymph held the key to the "secrets of the universe," hadn't gone so well. It had ended with my girlfriend, Annabeth, (should I say ex-girlfriend?) and I not speaking to each other anymore. That had been three months ago. My new "mission" was to try to live a normal life. Well, as normal as it gets for a demi-god like me...

"C'mon, Perce! This one is different..." His voice trailed off as I raised my eyes to his. He must have been able to read something of my despair in them, because his tone suddenly changed, his expression turning deadly serious.

"Look, Percy. I know how you feel...empathy link, remember? But you can't wallow like this, man. The world needs you. This situation is desperate, man. I'm talking life or death here." His eyes were pleading.

I sighed heavily, knowing I would give in. What was it about me that always led me to play the hero? Because I was the son of Poseidon, did I really feel I had something to prove?

"Okay. What is it that's so desperate?" I demanded, my tone apathetic. I would do this, but I didn't have to like it.

Grover's voice was hesitant, careful. "It's a demi-god. Powerful. Going to the same crappy school you were at when we found you. Somehow, she's managed to mask herself from the monsters. We don't know how she's doing it. In fact, we wouldn't have found her ourselves if it weren't for the prophecy."

"Wait a minute. Prophecy? What exactly does this prophecy say? And please tell me you did not say she. Girls mean one thing: drama. A girl is a deal-breaker, man. No. Find someone else." I shook my head and let myself slump back on the mattress, pulling a pillow over my face as I did so.

"Percy, since when did you become such a coward? Is the son of Poseidon really going to be scared off by one little girl? Besides, it has to be you, man...the prophecy was clear on that. Please just hear me out before you decide."

I groaned, which I guess he took as an assent, because he paused just a moment before he continued. This time his voice was hushed, subdued, and I had to strain to hear his words.

"Listen to the prophecy, Percy. Please, man. You know I wouldn't ask if it weren't important," he pleaded. No traces of humor remained in his voice.

"Go ahead. Let's hear it, then," I stated. I didn't sit up, but I did pull the pillow off my face as my concession to the gravity of his tone.

He cleared his throat and began to speak softly...

"Last night, Chiron couldn't sleep, and he said he felt like he had to visit the Oracle, you know...Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She had come to camp that evening, saying she had a dream she was needed. She used the word compelled to describe the feeling that came over her. Anyway, when Chiron got to her cave, she was immediately possessed by the Oracle's spirit, and she gave him a prophecy..." He cleared his throat. "It mentioned you."

I pushed myself up on my elbows to look at him then. "Go on," I said, a strange panic twisting in my gut.

"Well, man, I guess the easiest way is just to repeat it straight out. Here's what she said..." He looked me full in the face then, his eyes troubled.

"Love's own daughter bears the scorn; the Phoenix's Mark her heart has worn.

Gifted thrice, her gifts she'll wield; the Son of Poseidon' s heart shall yield.

Her hands...all manner of wounds will heal; her voice... the listener's will shall steal.

The gift of Clearsight lets her know if mortal or monster be friend or foe.

Her kiss, the breath of life shall be, to share her immortality.

Poseidon's child shall hear her voice, shall rescue her, shall make the choice...

Accept her gift to lose it all...or reject it, and the world will fall."

As his voice trailed off, his face folded into a mask of ancient sadness. He gazed at me expectantly, but he said nothing further. I let the words of the prophecy sink into my bewildered mind. I had to rescue a daughter of Aphrodite? One that was "gifted thrice" with some kind of Mark? And what was that about some choice I had to make, or else the world would fall? What did it all mean? Nothing good...of that, I was sure. Aphrodite's kids were vain, spoiled, and shallow. The exact opposite of...Annabeth. I just had to drag her into it, didn't I?

Well, maybe what I needed was to get her off my mind. A daughter of Aphrodite would be a distraction, albeit an unpleasant one...but, hey, I might get to save the world. As for the other mumbo-jumbo Grover mentioned...who knew what the Oracle meant? The Oracle of Delphi was capricious, and the prophecies were often phrased so ambiguously that they could mean almost anything...

"Okay...when do we start?" I was pleased to note that my voice didn't shake and that my tone was confident.

Grover's smile was contagious. "No better time than the present!"

And for the first time in three months, I felt my lips curve voluntarily into a smile.

Chapter 2: Ember's Story

I knew the boy was trouble the moment I saw him get up from his seat in the cafeteria and start toward me. He was tall and blond, and he walked with a slow saunter that somehow had a predatory feel to it. I should have been flattered; after all, he was easily the hottest guy at this miserable excuse for a school. I ought to have been glad that someone here wanted to talk to me instead of ignoring me like I had the plague the way everyone else did. And I would have been flattered, but...all around the guy's body, like a thin second skin, I could see a barely visible darkness, a shadow that clung to him. I looked down quickly and pretended to be interested in my book, hoping to deter him from his approach. I should have known it wouldn't work.

"I haven't seen you here before," he commented, as he gracefully lowered himself into the chair across from me. I glanced up quickly, just enough to be polite, then turned my eyes back to my book. If I didn't look at him, if I couldn't see his darkness, it would be easier to have a normal conversation with him.

"Oh, I've been around," I answered as nonchalantly as possible. Just act normal. I told myself. Don't be such a freak all the time. This guy is just being nice.

"My mistake. Let me introduce myself. I'm Todd Larson." He extended his hand to me politely, and I had no choice but to take it.

As my fingers grasped his, I felt a chill slither its way down my spine. He seemed to feel something different, too, because he quickly withdrew his hand, shaking his head as if to clear it. Suddenly, he smiled, and I wondered how I could have ever thought him good-looking. His eyes narrowed as they took in my face. I had no idea what expression I was wearing. Jumping up quickly, I grabbed my tray, accidentally tipping the milk over in my haste to get away.

"Um. Nice meeting you!" I shouted nervously, my voice too loud, striding hastily toward the trash can, where I unceremoniously dumped my lunch, silverware and all. I knew I had only seconds to get away before I saw things I didn't want to see. I hurried toward the double doors that led to the courtyard, practically sprinting now, shooting occasional glances back over my shoulder. Reaching the safety of the picnic table, I slumped down, burying my head in my hands.

"Oh, no, not again," I moaned. "Why did this have to happen now?"

I had only been at this school for four days. Four. I didn't hope for friends; I knew better than that. The best I could hope for was anonymity. Right. Good luck with that one, I thought grimly. It didn't matter how much I tried not to stand out, how invisible I tried to make myself, how normal I tried to appear. They came to me anyway. It was only a matter of time.

The problem was that I wasn't a normal girl. I could...see things about people that they kept hidden from everyone, things they didn't want the world to see...sometimes the things they didn't want to see themselves. Every person had a certain color around them, invisible to everyone else, apparently. Everyone but me. Some people had nice colors: pale yellows, gentle pinks, delicate lavenders. These people were okay. They never bothered me. But others...well, their colors were not so great: smoky grays, putrid greens, fierce, angry reds, and the worst...inky blacks. These I had to watch out for. It was not that they were evil, exactly. It was just that they seemed to seek me out, hanging about like leeches, like they wanted something from me. I just couldn't figure out what it was, and I no longer stuck around to find out. Not after the last time...

I sighed heavily, catching my breath. I wouldn't think of it. It would never happen again. Suddenly, the table rocked as a weight settled onto the opposite bench. Jerking my head up, I was almost to my feet when I felt two cold hands grasp mine.

"You rushed off before you told me your name," the voice purred, soft as velvet. Todd. Of course it was. With a shock, I realized that I felt weak and dizzy, and I sank back down onto the bench. His hands, still clasped around mine, suddenly began to emanate a tingling warmth, almost painful in its intensity.

"My name is...Ember...Wade..." my voice trailed off, weakening. His face seemed to be taking on a hazy, indistict quality, and the darkness around him was slowly thickening, intensifying to an oily, shimmering black. His smile was feral, and his grip seemed to tighten. My eyes began to close of their own volition.

Suddenly, a voice pierced the fog of my barely-conscious brain. "Let the girl go!"

The voice carried strength and power, and I struggled to open my eyes to see its owner. He was tall and slender, yet muscular. His black hair tumbled low over his forehead, framing a pair of startlingly green eyes. His jaw was clenched angrily, and, strangely, he gripped a pen in his hand as if it were some sort of weapon. He looked fierce, and instinctively I knew that he would not hesitate to use violence if he needed to. Yet...I couldn't be afraid of him. Not with the soft, ocean-blue light that seemed to envelop him... It was a brighter, purer blue than any I had ever seen, and yet, if I really concentrated, I could see that it was shot through with tiny, ink-black streaks that ran like miniature veins throughout. Somehow, it made me feel inexplicably sad...

"I said, 'Let her go,' you thieving freak! You're stealing her energy to feed your nasty, rotten, stinking..." The boy's voice trailed off as Todd suddenly let go of my hand, and faster than I would have thought possible, stood before the newcomer.

Before my eyes, Todd's form began to lengthen and thicken, and his lips stretched wide in a gruesome imitation of a smile. It appeared that he now had fangs, which were dripping thick ropes of saliva. I blinked, then blinked again, but the horrid vision didn't go away. Todd looked like he had either had a run-in with a rabid dog, or...some kind of weird vampire-hybrid.

"Son of Poseidon, I don't fear you or your kind. I am Oneiroi, the bringer of black dreams! My mother is Nyx, goddess of Night, and I will break your bones and feast on your nightmares!" the monster that had been Todd taunted. "And you have had many nightmares as of late, have you not, Percy Jackson?" he continued in a silky voice, stepping closer with each word.

The boy called Percy seemed to shrink in on himself a bit, and he took a step back. Suddenly, there was a sound like a galloping clatter, and a shape careened past me, launching itself onto the monster's back and knocking it to its knees. "Yeah, Nightmare Boy, why don't you dream of that?" it screeched. Then, flipping off the monster's back as fast as lightning, the newcomer knocked the monster flat onto the ground and proceeded to kick the monster rapidly in the head with its...hooves? Yes. Definitely hooves. The boy called Percy shook his head as if to clear it, then clicked his pen, which suddenly lengthened into a full-sized sword. With one vicious slash, he brought his sword down, piercing the monster from his collarbone to the bottom of his torso. That move should have gutted him like a fish, but, instead, he exploded into a fine gold dust that began disappearing even before it could settle. Percy reached down a hand to help the newcomer, who seemed to be some sort of goat-boy, to his feet.

"Thanks, man," he said. "I don't know what happened there. I just...froze."

"Don't sweat it, Perce. What else is a Protector for? Besides, that Oneiroi was one nasty dude," the goat-boy said.

Percy shook his head as if he didn't accept that answer, but he turned to where I was huddled on the picnic bench.

"My name is Percy Jackson, and this is Grover. I don't have a lot of time to explain, but you're in danger," he said.

I nodded numbly. That much I knew already.

He offered me his hand, and, when I grasped it, he pulled me gently to my feet. With his touch, the familiar tingling warmth shot through my fingers, and I removed my hand quickly. He stared at me in shock, flexing his fingers.

"What was THAT?" he gasped.

Goat-boy, or Grover, cleared his throat. His pale mint aura shimmered softly around him like a halo. "It's the prophecy. She's the Phoenix, Percy. She just gave you some of her energy, her healing energy. It's one of her gifts."

Percy glanced at me, his face mirroring my confusion. "But I don't need healing, Grover. I haven't been hurt," he said softly, glancing down at himself to check for injuries.

Grover smiled a sad, twisted little smile. "Not all wounds are the kind you can see," he said.

Percy's mouth dropped open in surprise, then closed, and finally, he looked at me, refusing to meet Grover's gaze.

"Will you come with us? We're here to take you some place safe," he coaxed.

When I didn't respond, he smiled at me, and I felt a funny little warmth start in the pit of my stomach. It was sort of like the tingling when he took my hand, but this warmth didn't drain me. I suddenly felt stronger, more energized.

"I promise we won't hurt you," he said. "You can trust us."

"I know," I said. And I did know. If I had understood nothing else from this encounter, it was that I could trust this strange boy with the ocean eyes.

I followed him out of the courtyard, not knowing where I was going, only knowing that I would be alright as long as he was with me. An odd, unfamiliar feeling crept over me. For a moment, I didn't know what to call it. It was tied up with dim memories of a soothing voice and comforting arms. It was peace. It was safety. It was home.


End file.
